Can Christians use the Ring of Solomon?

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According to this Christian source https://www.gotquestions.org/Testament-of-Solomon.html the ‘ring of Solomon’ is a piece of fiction based on mythology and pagan ideas. Part of the article has this to say about the origin of the story:

The Testament of Solomon is a work written centuries after the birth of Christ that claims to record the supernatural adventures of Solomon, the son of King David... Most of the book describes Solomon’s enslavement of demons and his building of the temple through the power of a magic ring. The Testament of Solomon has an extremely late date of writing, blends various religious ideas, and is deeply tied to astrology. The book was never accepted as truth, let alone Scripture, by the early church or Jewish communities.

The ‘Ring of Solomon’ is sometimes referred to as the ‘Seal of Solomon’. The article goes on to explore the astrological and demonic elements contained in the Testament of Solomon:

The Testament of Solomon is deeply tied to astrology; the demons are associated with various stars and constellations. A type of medical alchemy is also prevalent. Demons speaking with Solomon take the blame for certain ailments and relate spells that can be used to remove their power. Many of the names given to demons in this work have been infamous in mythology and literature, names such as Asmodeus and Abyzou.

With regard to the authenticity of the writing, the article draws this conclusion:

The Testament of Solomon is dated to somewhere between the third and fifth centuries, nearly 1,500 years after the life of Solomon himself. In terms of value, the Testament of Solomon is useful only for insight into legends and myths regarding Solomon. Historians note that Solomon was a popular subject of stories during the early Christian era. Fictional accounts such as the Testament of Solomon reflect that interest. The contents of this text don’t agree with inspired Scripture and weren’t accepted in any sense by the early church. Jewish scholars considered it fictional, as well.

You ask if it is okay for Christians to use that. By ‘that’ I take it you mean the Ring of Solomon. Well, first you would have to find it. Second, even if it does exist, given the demonic and pagan content within the writings, the answer to your question is a resounding NO.

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The answer by @Lesley and ideas found in the Wikipedia article give several reasons for rejecting the book as a fraud or fantasy:

  • inconsistent with the rest of Scripture
  • language consistent with Greek usage from several centuries after Christ
  • lack of acceptance by the early church

To these lines of evidence one can add lack of structural similarity to patterns used by Solomon in these books attributed to him:

  • Ecclesiastes
  • Proverbs
  • Song of Songs

In Peace, like Solomon Never Knew, I analyze those three books and reveal a common thread. If you search the "Testament of Solomon" I doubt you will find this pattern. It is an anti-counterfeiting measure that Solomon wisely employed (or God secretly inspired) to enable the detection of frauds claiming his authority.

The pattern is found in the twenty-eight times of Ecclesiastes 3. If you break Ecclesiastes into twenty-eight pieces using "under the sun" as a divider, you will find most of the twenty-eight times exemplified in the same sequence as Ecclesiastes 3, either directly or subtly, and sometimes ironically through inversion.

In Proverbs, the first three chapters are an introduction. The remaining twenty-eight chapters correspond, in sequence, with Solomon's twenty-eight times, one per chapter.

In Song of Songs (where the ESV version seems to work best in how it divides the speaking parts), you have twenty-eight speaking parts. Each speech corresponds to one of the twenty-eight times, again occurring in proper sequence. The difference here is that fifteen of the sections invert the time. The times appear in antagonistic pairs in Ecclesiastes. Song of Songs often gives the time opposite the expected one in the sequence as if to say that young people who are in love want the current moment to be one time, but it is really the opposite time. It shows the impatience and pride of youth. That is reinforced by "SHE", the lover who cautions her friends to "not arouse or awaken love until it is the right time".

This pattern of Solomon's also shows up in Job (chapters 15 to 42), Matthew (one time per each of its 28 chapters), Revelation, and select Psalms. (The presence in Matthew is warranted because Jesus is called in Matthew "something greater than Solomon".)

I have not analyzed "The Testament of Solomon" and its 130 sections to see if it conforms to this pattern of twenty-eight times or not. I expect that it does not. I leave it as an exercise for the reader. Such a strong, detailed, deliberate structural pattern in Solomon's works cannot be an accident and should serve as his signature, which you can use as a test when confronted with another work attributed to him.

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